Have a heart attack...your way

Things like this make me proud to be an Amerkin. I wonder if you can get chili on it, if you ask nicely. Check the "Nutritional Information" under "more details", if you have the stomach for it.

In Praise of the King of Fools

The top ten reasons why KOF´s wish for peace won´t be fulfilled. Here we go:

10) Failing to blind copy a message is a sin. Moreover, by revealing the recipients, it makes my decision to post this entry an understandable, though perhaps unwanted alternative to “reply to all”.

9) Technically, one can´t pray to girl saints; at least not with the boy saints´ blessings.

8) The motivation to send the message—not unlike mine, that is, before I went over the five-minute deadline trying to decide whether of not I could just send it to the same people—was one long built on Pascal`s wager (paranoia).

7) The stars will never be aligned properly for such madness.

6) If God had meant for world peace, He wouldn’t have written such a controversial book.

5) Who says the world isn`t peaceful already? Naysayers, that’s who!!

4) Like most people, KOF probably missed the part about not deleting the message. I´m pretty sure it means, "never delete it," and not just, "don`t delete it before sending it." I see this as an intentionally, dirty trick.

3) The Homeland Security Act precludes it.

2) The originator didn’t say, “Simon says,” and KOF didn’t say, “Mother, may I?”

1) KOF deserves a hell of a lot better than world peace!!!

See this Slate article. Pretty funny.

"Important Changes to Your Citizenship Agreement
Please read and retain for your records."
By Evan Eisenberg
Posted Friday, March 25, 2005, at 4:19 AM PT

Connected

Well, I´m surfing with the radiowaves finally, though I had to go down the street to do it. I´m sitting in Boxhagenerplatz. Imagine Central Park scaled down to the size of a football field. I still haven´t connected to the network to which I intended, but I recieve it´s signal.

Perhaps one of the boys could recommend a good antenna? Then maybe I could keep my lazy ass at home. What kind of range do they have, and how does one go about connecting and mounting them?

Terri's "Supporters"?

Why is it that every picture of a group of lunatics fighting desperately to keep Terri Schiavo out of heaven, they're described as Terri Schiavo supporters?

Arianna Hates Freedom

Sorry, I don't mean to keep posting things of a political nature. God I wish California had elected this woman!!!!

Trixie, Dixie, and Bill Bixby

We now have six animals: a set of pets comprising three cats and three dogs, three females and three males, two black animals and two speckled/spotted animals, and two animals of light white or orange color--not totalling eighteen as this list indicates; I don't know how to list these variants. Our newest pet is a male kitten with thumbs. He is sweet, soft, cuddly, gentle, and shy, and the dogs love him (and he seems perfectly happy with them). The two cats, so far, are pretending he doesn't exist. (It's only been several hours since we brought him home.)

Because of his extra two digits (one thumb on each front paw), our dog walker named him "Mr. Mittens"--and he really has paws that look like mittens. I wanted to name him "Pixie," but my male spouse thought the name to be too feminine. Please, too feminine for what? Anyway, chanting in the car to amuse myself, after arguing about biases, sexism, irrelevancy, and the feline psychology as impacted by self-image, I came up with the phrase, "Allow me to introduce you to our three cats, Trixie, Dixie, and Bill Bixby." It seems so perfect, as long as everyone understands that his name is neither "Bill" nor "Mr. Bixby," but "Bill Bixby" (kind of how it's not "Alice," but "Alice Lee").

The Wolves Watch the Money

I guess most of you know that I´m the most likely in the family to believe in aliens and conspiracies and the like. Maybe it´s my need to find a greater meaning, to compensate for my ever unfocused changing of "careers".

Substituting one Wolf for another at "The Bank of the World" has me so giddy with excitement, that I´ve forgotten to get the slightest bit upset about it. Regarding the fact that it´ll get him out of the DOD however, I must assert that there are always more like him, or yes, even worse.

NEWS FROM AROUND THE SMITH'S

Cloe already spayed. I'm having trouble burning DVDs and finding files. P's cardio appt. was moved to April 11. Seems they didn't know March 25 was Good Friday when they made the appointment in the first place. I seeth, to no avail, and missed my dentist appt. today, thinking it was tomorrow. Nuts. Ever have one o them days? Still haven't heard from the Baylor Study group. Nor from, oh crap................................

Eva Rocks in "No Time For Sergeants"

Some of you may remember Andy Griffith in the classic by Ira Levin, "No Time For Sargeants." Last weekend our own Eva Dewer Dazzler killed in four different roles in said play.
As Inductee, he was tall, dark, handsome, and laconic, the epitome of a dangerous, lady killer, cowboy. (The woman sitting beside me nearly melted to the floor upon his first appearance.
As the Testing Corporal (the Don Knotts character, you may recall) Eva was a mass of jittery, fingertapping nerves as he tested Will Stockdale's dexterity at magic rings. No one who has heard Eva speak in his normal manly voice would believe him capable of the strident, tightly strung, all around bundle of nerves we were fortunate to see Saturday night. One had to see it to appreciate it.
As the inspecting Colonel he put the fear of God into Will, St. King, and a full house--overflowing actually--audience of theatergoers.
In this reviewer's opinion, though, Eva's rendition of the navigator, Col. Cover, was the piece de resistance. His back to the audience, he worked his direction-tracking-and-- calculating-apparatus masterfully, muttering, puzzling, insisting that what the plane was flying over, although it looked looked to the rest of the flight crew amazingly like dry land, was actually the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. And he waved the Atlas to show it was true.
The time (2 hours) flew by as the rapid-paced comedy garnered one belly laugh after another.
At ten bucks for old people and students and twelve for normal adults, this show is a bargain you really must see. The perfect hectic, hilarious, howler to usher in spring in Atlanta.
This reviewer's poor skills are unable to do justice to these barrier breaking performances; suffice it to say that this geriatric pair will make the 3 hour trip again next Saturday to see the closing night performance.
We may never again be so lucky as to be in on the birth of what must surely become a cult classic amongst the cognescenti. 30 BB

"Angel Unaware" Dog from outta nowhere

I got to this post site by clicking "New post from Evadewer" and logging in with my own name & password.
The spirit of the universe, aka, fate, fortune, whatever, has sent us a dog. She showed up a couple days ago and started sleeping on my chaise on the upstairs deck. She's been dogging my heels ever since. She looks like "Cleo" or if that is unfamiliar, like a Thurber dog. Black & white & tan beagle, I think. Pert got her some food and a dish and I sacrificed the cushion from my chaise--put it on the porch outside the glass sliding doors. Pert moved the gate from the backporch to the bottom of my stairs and we are trying to transfer her attachment to Pert. Right now he has lured her on a walk to the creek with garlic baloney.
She seems so familiar, she must(might)(could be) or not be a reincarnation of somebody I knew, and I feel like we are supposed to keep her. Perhaps for Pert. Grasping! Straws! Stupidity! Maybe she is Hunter come to keep me company.




Not the dog in question

Comments on the main page: Another change

I've hacked the blog a bit to allow expansion of comments on the main page. When you click the "Comments" line, the comments automagically appear below the original post. Clicking it again re-hides the comments. Let me know if you like it, or would prefer that clicking the comments button open a new page. It's a lot quicker to navigate and read comments, but it can look a little crowded, and probably costs at initial load time. OML, your input is probably the most valuable on that front. Let me know how it performs over dialup.

"Post a comment" will still require a new page, but it appears that Google has worked on the performance of their new look and feel for comments, and it comes up pretty quickly now.

Or do you just not give a damn?

Your friendly admin

Whoa

Time to talk about Skype again

Skype is software you can download that lets you have voice conversations with other people on the internet. I have it installed, and Eva has it, too. So, when we want, we can have conversations, toll free.

Here is a wrinkle that I learned about today: They have an additional service called skypeout.

It allows you, for paid in advance fee, to call telephones via skype on your PC.

The rate to call most of the places that we all live is about 2 cents a minute. So, for example, if I sign up and post some money, I can call OML on a regular phone for 2 cents a minute. (Of course, if he gets skype, we can talk for no toll!)

Check it out.

The Evadewer and Afterdinner's Most Excellent Adventure

Went to the condo last week to finish up the cleanup and have a little fun. We opted for a little more tile in the foyer, so the work won't be complete until this week, but the place looks great. The new tile in the living room by the balcony looks great, and the walls are much less cluttered than they were, but still beach-festive. I'll post some pics over on EvaPics later.

We decided to engage in some drunken debauchery on Saturday night at a local raw bar. Well, we didn't really decide to. It just sort of...happened. Sat down at the oyster bar and slammed oysters, two dozen raw for me and three dozen lightly steamed for der missus. We both love oysters, but it took a lotta beers to wash it all down. All things considered, we had a great time that night, and didn't feel bad the next day, and in fact celebrated Valentine's day a day early with a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant about five minutes from the condo.

And then, bad stuff started happening.
On Monday, both of us started feeling a little sluggish and weak. I got diarrhea that lasted all day and all night Monday night. We both puked some, Afterdinner copiously. We got up early on Monday, got some Immodium in me, and journeyed back to Norx (in separate cars, due to circumstances beyond our control). Felt moderately recovered on Tuesday night, but a little tired from the travel and lack of food.

Then it got painful.
I awoke at about 1:30 AM with excruciating stomach pain, and used various remedies to try to alleviate it, to little or no avail. Afterdinner took me to the 'mergency at about 3:30, where they doped me up real good, gave me a CAT scan (*upper* GI) and blood work, and found an abrasion in my stomach. Prescribed me some drugs for pain, nausea, and to coat my tumtum, and recommended me to an gastroenterologist (or something like that).

So this will be fun...

Update: Pert medical info

Nothing from the neurologist yet. Her secretary said she was going to talk to the refered to doc.
Yesterday P had me check his b/p immediately upon his standing. It went from 120/80=/> to below 90/70 sometimes and unable to detect by ear other times. (I could feel it by palpating his arm.) He had been taking b/p meds for a couple weeks and seemed worse. He stopped the b/p meds (quinapril 10 mg. daily, for those taking notes, how do you make a smiley face?) and has an appointment with Toth, regular doc, tomorrow to ask for a referal to a cardiologist. He and I agree that he should have a thorough check out and another treadmill stress test to rule out--or find and treat--cardiac problems. Even though the neurologist says it wouldn't cause the problem. New post because I got tired of looking for where I was putting new updates.

Does anybody remember laughter?

koALa is lazy, but she's painted all of the trees on their land. This bears starting a new thread, and I'll just quote koALa here:

• "There are only 143 (one hundred forty three) days left till we check into the cabin on the Toccoa River this summer. Anyone who can make it is welcome. There is a hot tub, a deck on the river, seclusion, nearby snack and goodie purchasing opportunities, outdoor grill, umbrella tables, lots of land to roam, a deserted road, cable TV, and cable radio, fun and frivolity, games, la la la. Come on summer? C Day is Jul 2, 2005. Do not forget. Did I mention free?"

I, for one, can't wait.

Peer To Peer beats Pay for Play

It's amazing how having the wherewithall changes the attitude of a naysayer about downloading music.

Mania Has It's Good Side

Today I:
1. Finished and made copies of all the medical reports. I have 3 copies. One to keep, one for MAYO in Jacksonville and one I will mail to Eva when he gats back from Florida.
2. Filed our federal and state taxes on line. Got 1600. =- coming to direct deposit.
3. E-mailed to myself all the e-mail address from the laptop and all the bookmarks from the laptop and printed them so I can copy them to the new desktop.
4. Had the downstairs deck painted. Last of the painting done.
5. Paid bills.
6. But, what do I do now? It's only 6:30pm and I still got lots of vim, not to mention vigor.

In praise of koALa

"k" is for the kids that she has spawned,
"o" means only that she's growing old,
"A" is for the alcohol that I drove her to,
"L" is for the lunch she used to pack me when she didn't make me pack it myself,
"a" means accurate, and accurate she'll always be

Put them all together and they spell "koALa",
I mention this because it's her birthday.

Original poem (bottom of page)

Big Mama Got DSL

I had to bring the laptop back up and connect it 'cause without the CD drive working we couldn't configure the desktop. And I had to go buy a NIC card for the laptop 'cause they don't carry them on the truck. So I set up the card and and the modem and am now connected to my DSL. I just got done and haven't browsed yet so I don't know what the diff will by. Nevertheless, rejoice with me, in the 21st century--well the low end of it anyway.
Yes, we can still use the dial up. Tomorrow I'll take the desktop back down for Pert to use with his e-mail until I get the network set up. I think I will do wireless.
There are boxes and papers and wires and filters and junk strewn all over the place. I'l recreate order tomorrow, said scarlett. bye

Kiritsis Dead

Jo Jo Gunne Celebrates Birthday Saturday

And I know he and KOF wish we all were there to help them celebrate. Congratulations Jo Jo for making it through the yellow eyeball trials to this welcome day. Best wishes from Pert and koALa.

Pert and koALa

If I am correct about the date, today they have been married a whole bunch of years, I suspect a couple years fewer than the number of years The Evadewer has been on this earth (although I don't have any kind of certificate to prove it).

Congratulations for making it this far, and we hope for many blissful years to come.

PERT'S MEDICAL HISTORY (wrt dizziness etc.)

I'm just gonna do my list here. I'll add as I get time.

2001, Summer, Indy:
Saw Quick Med Doc for dizziness. She suspected sinus or ear infection and prescribed ANTIBIOTICS and ANTIHISTAMINE. He took the prescribed medicine which had no effect on the dizziness.
2001, Summer, Indy:
A guy I worked with at Pathways had dizziness and been diagnosed with BPPV. He had been given an Antivert equivalent which had worked. We tried that. No effect on the dizziness.
2002, Fall, GA:
Went to local doctor, had TREADMILL STRESS TEST, CAROTID ARTERY ULTRASOUND, MRI.
Stress Test okay, Carotids wide open as they sould be, MRI showed Degenerrating PITUITARY MACROADENOMA and minimal age-related atrophy.
2002, December, Atlanta:
Had Pituitary adenectomy. Recovery uneventful. Dizziness unabated.
By now symptoms are : Lack of coordination, Disequalibrium, Dizziness, Some trouble swallowing, Some drooling, Excessive frequent yawning, slurred speech.
2003, January, Atlanta:
Evaluated at the Dizziness and Balance Clinic at Emory Hospital, DR. R. Tusa MD.
TESTS: Spontaneous NYS test, Positional NYS Test, Caloric Vest Test, Optokenetic Test, Tacking Test, Vertical Electrodes, Physical evaluation of gait. Dix-Hallpike Test with vidoe infrared recordings.
All tests were within normal limits. Dr. Tusa ruled out BPPV, which is the usual diagnosis everyone wants to work. His final assesment reads as follows:
"1. Chronic imbalance. No physical evidence for this on clinical or laboratory exam. Functional balance componant seen on computerized dynamic posturography.
2. Depression. This is primarily based on the PANAS scale, done on the initial visit.
3. Episodic vertigo in the past, possibly due to BPPV. This is not present now.
I suspect the original trigger when you were playing softball was BPPV, but that since has resolved. Now it is primarily a component of depression which is resulting in the chronic imbalance and dizziness."
RX: Zoloft 25mg. working up to 50mg. for at least 3 months.
Did this, ineffective.
That's all for today folks. Later.
NOTE: I HAVE EDITED DATES HERE, MAKING THEM A YEAR LATER THAT PREVIOUSLY.

kOaLa'S email

I can't get this to post on blog. It says document is empty. Probably my laptop. This is my solution.

I haven't done the past history yet, but in the interest of saving me work when I do get to it, I will post new results as they come in from now on.

MRI BRAIN WITHOUT CONTRAST 1/13/05 12:54 pm Union General Hospital, Blairsville
Routine sagittal, axial and coronal images of the brain were obtained supplemented with FLAIR axial images.

CONCLUSION: Moderately advanced cerebral atrophy. Chronic ischemic change involving the periventricular white matter. Empty sella is noted as well as pan chronic sinusitis. The greatest involving ethmoid and maxillary sinuses, as well as thinkening of the turbinates likely inflammatory in nature.

He has an appointment with neurologist in March. He will make an appointment with his local doctor to discuss these results, since they are greek to us.

Haiku By Melanie

Great!
really cool!
awesome!
not, not, cool! (confusing)
dear
many personalities
artist

Please Welcome Jo Jo, Official Contributor

No, not that Joe-Joe. That one's dead. This one has a Gunne, and has recently been mostly dead, but is still partly alive. So there's hope.


Welcome, Jo Jo! Have fun stormin' the castle!

Sorry, I Gotta Vent

I can't help myself. I wandered by a USA Today in the library, and my curiosity got the better of me.

There was a story and accompanying graph about the discrepancy not just between the exit polls and the vote tally itself, but the exit poll results before, and the exit poll results after the actual vote count started coming in. I didn't bother to link the on-line version, because it only has a different spin of the story without the graphic.

The exit poll graphic showed how Sen. John Kerry D-Massachusetts was leading the president 51% to just under 48% nationally. Then, along the time scale there is a few hour gap in the graph in which there had been no polling, because, according to the caption: "There were no exit poll results because of a 'computer malfuntion'." The time line picks up again somewhere around midnight, where the results indicate a reversal of fortune.

I'm reminded of someone's suggestion, referring to the 2000 election that on translate the same story to a banana republic vote scenario, that is a corresponding result, but with different names and all: "Goopeepee's brother is provincial leader of the district in question."

This time around we have Ukrain as an example.

Wallingford´s Widow Weeps No More

Lenny Wlasik´s no pickle. Give me the letter.

Pert´s Legacy

Crumb snatchin´ bastards.

Stop Screaming at Me (or "Those Fucking People")

On a conference call today with about twenty persons, I listened as one lawyer made a bold statement from which a person could infer an accusation. Another lawyer did infer an accusation and, despite the one lawyer denying any implication (and after a bit of squabbling between them and others on the call), the other lawyer said, "Stop screaming at me." It was kind of funny, but scary too. This is another deal foisted upon me at the last minute, although this time the reason is legitimate: the initial underwriter on the deal had a heart attack Saturday evening. Hmm. You think this is the deal that did it to him?

Why can't we all just get along?

They say Spain is pretty, but I've never been

What's the latest on the planning for koala's spanish expedition?

Happy Birthday to Eva and His Dewings

Hard to believe that Ike was still president when you were born, unless one remembers when you were born, of course. I hope you get more presents this year than last, and if you only get one, that it´s not the kind of apple you can eat. I´m afraid this is it from me, though. Sorry.

Test Post

Let's see if we can notify on new posts.

Essay Worth Reading

http://www.tnr.com
If you can manage to copy the address and have plenty of time to read and think, this is really thought provoking. Much easier, at least to me, would be to go to tnr.com and choose from the right column an essay called "A Fighting Faith" by Peter Reinhart. Requires some study and historical reflection. Even, perhaps, research, for you younger kids who may not remember Wallace, Truman, CIO before it was AFL-CIO, the origin of the Marshall Plan and the reasoning behind it etc. Pert has gone to shop and lunch with G&G so I am gorging myself on fascinating info from abroad. Abroad being north of the MD line.

Pert Joins The Blog

Pert has been invited to join the blog. He accepts. koAla is doing this one as a demo, but from now on it will be Pert. Thanks.

Thanks

I want to publicly thank koALa and Pert for their hospitality over the holidays. Some of the things that make spending time at the compound are natural: quiet in the woods, no cell coverage, rest and relaxation, for example. The atmosphere of fun, frivolity, and love are created by the proprietors of the digs, and that is what really sets the experience apart.

It's one thing for the atmosphere to be such that a stressed-out son would want to spend a few days there to get away from it all. It says a lot, though, that his wife and teenaged crumb-snatchers still anxiously await opportunities to spend time with PertoALa. The relaxed, come-as-you-are, sharing attitude can only be truly appreciated when one compares it to spending time with inlaws of Christmas past. The vibe was welcoming and pleasant, but never completely relaxed, the way we all are when at Morgington. I can honestly say that none of us wants to leave at the end of the trip.

Thanks for the oasis.

What I Really Want For The Holiday

And after. I want all my kids and grandkids to come here and live in separate cabins (or doublewides) on my land and be happy together. We'll have gigantic family meals (Liz and Stevie and Kristen and Melanie can cook) and giant bonfires (Craig and Chris and Bobby and Glen and David can gather wood). Daphne and Kelly and I can sit around and drink coffee and gossip and plan projects. Pert can tend the fire and give directions to all and sundry. Pleeease. Once a week we'll go to our separate corners to calm down. Daddy says also!!!

Wall Street Needs Your Money...

...and w wants to give it to them. Let's see.
1. The small investers got screwed over by the investment firms, who favor the big guys.
2. Many large company CEOs skimmed millions for themselves, their cronies, and the Republican campaign chests.
3.The small investor, after losing lots of $ he couldn't afford to lose, withdrew and put his $ under the bed.
4. Not jailed,(like Martha, a Democrat) but suffering high legal costs, Republican supporters are in desperate need of "some chump's" change.
5.Guess which "chump" will be forced to give his change in the cause.
6. Hint: Ethics-Economics challenged, non-newspaper reading, semi(if that)-literate, Texas cowboy to the rescue.
7. Using his "mandate" and "election capital" and traveling the slippery slope he eventually forces you to give your retirement money to them.
8. That will keep them happy till 2008, when Jeb will be champing at the bit.
9. 2010: 50% unemployment, country's economy in ruins, 300 dollars equals one Euro, all safety net programs have been dismantled, Social Security is empty and there are no poorhouses any more, so old folks die in the streets.
10. All fat cats decamp to Bimini or its equivalent.
11. Is it revolution time yet? Can you say liberal now?
12. Okay, so maybe I'm getting a little carried away--and I could go on--but you see my point.
Head the bastards off at the pass kemo sabe.

Fucking people...What is it with them?

Took Afterdinner and the oldest boy to the Megagooglecineplex the other night to see "Sideways" (excellent flick, by the way). Shortly after the interminable series of ads that they euphemistically call "The Twenty", and just before the previews ("trailers", if you're cool), Manager Boy sidles in and announces that, because they had a bad print of the flim (nod to Pert), they had replaced it with a brand new one. Unfortunately, the projectionist was still "building it", which I assume means attaching said trailers to the front end, and we'd be delayed about 15 minutes. Not really any big deal. Not for me, Mrs. Eva, and Thing 3, anyway.

You'd thing some of these people in the audience with us had just been raped up the ass without the benefit of appropriate lubrication, though.

"Do we get free popcorn, then?"
"How about free passes?"

And so on.

Manager Dude says he can't throw food at us, but can do passes. Without further explanation, he bolts, glad to be out of the firing line of the pack of assholes with whom I'll be enjoying tonite's fare. I should add that, because of the subject matter of the film, the crowd tended to be older (mid 20s to 50s, I reckon), in a theater in Alpharetta. I mention that because a free movie pass shouldn't be something that makes their day; they can afford the 8 bucks several times over.

After the theater quiets again, dude behind me starts in with his wife and the couple they're with:
"They waited until five minutes before the movie to tell us this?"
"I'll go out there to get our free tickets. I don't think they're going to bring them here."

And so on. Dude is maybe 45 or 50 years old. I don't like him.

I'm left with several choices:

I could just sit there, enjoy myself, and continue conversing with my lovely wife and son. Why ruin a perfectly nice evening?

I could stand up, face the crowd and rage: "Do you hear yourselves? Is 15 fucking minutes that big of an inconvenience to you? Are you going home to wonder why your kids aren't willing to wait a damn minute for you to get them what they want? Do you not understand why you're raising a generation of brats?"

And so on.

I did neither. The high road was too much of a stretch for me, and the diatribe would have apparently required too much courage, liquor, or both. Instead I opted for sarcasm: "How dare they? I can't believe that I have to sit here with my family for 15 more minutes", I hear myself bellow. "Somebody must owe me money! I demand satisfaction!"

Unfortunately, number one son drank it up and joined in, so I had to quiet him for behaving exactly like his old man. The apple, obviously, didn't fall far from the tree, and I taught him, right then and there, that it was appropriate to be a sarcastic asshole to strangers in a theater. I became exactly what I loathed. In two minutes time, I rode the train from righteous indignation to abject humiliation.

Goddammit. Why does being the perfect parent have to be so hard?

Chris in Northestern Hospital

My diagnosis: Hepatitis--A I hope. He went to doc yesterday, was sent to ER. They admitted him last night at about ten. Drew blood last night and hope to have diagnosis today sometime. Symptoms x 2 weeks: Nausea, malaise, headache, jaundice, cloudy urine progressing to black. He was given 2 injections of morphine(at intervals) in ER for headache, which seems excessive to me. He stil had headache at 11:00pm when I spoke to him. I'm waiting for KoF to call with latest. Updates asrecieved. The good old holiday season comes through again. Kelly used to get intractable vomiting on xmas eve when she was a kid.

Pert and the 21st Century

I have hooked up the desktop in the living room. Next task is to teach Pert to pick up e-mail and send it. I forsee.....??

Much better today, thanks

Rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

Do they know it's Christmastime at all?

I'm just dragging my ass up to the holidays, and foresee a major bout of depression when the holidays end and I look four solid months without any vacation time right in the molars. (That's a crappy sentence, but parse it and get my meaning.) The couple of weeks that lead up to the holidays are typically slow here; no customers want to upgrade their systems for the weeks leading up, so they won't have any new support issues over the break. Speaks well for our products, doesn't it?



This is kind of a dead week, then next week is filled with holiday luncheons and breakfasts, gift exchanges with coworkers, and any fires that break out at customer sites. I've taken care of most of my holiday shopping (until the Amazon packages arrive, and I have to wrap them). The tree is up at the house, which helps some, I think. Maybe it reminds me that I should be having more fun; I don't know.

Or maybe I just need a nap.

Tracee's Babee Zoee

Cool about Tracee's milkbaby. Congrats to her and her Belgian. A\lso to Ann and Barry congrats on their upcoming offspring. Isn't Zoe the perfect name for Tracee's baby?

Thanksgiving Fun!

We're having a great Thanksgiving weekend here at chateau EvaDewer. Gock and Mel got here late Thursday to complete (sans Koala) the circle. We had a party of ten for dinner yesterday, and everyone chipped in to the organized chaos that was the preparation process. By all accounts, the supper was a success, and we had two or three rounds of dessert, along with movies, "1000 white cards", and poker as the evening wore on.

T4 is up making breakfast for everyone as we speak. Pert is holding forth (to T3, and anyone else who will listen) on the relative benefits of contact lenses as they're created today (he won't be happy until you can put the lense in either way and still have it work correctly). Gock and Mel are on the computer, as is Afterdinner, at least until T2 gets her out of there to join the breakfast table.

T1 is missing her beau, who is headed back to Champaign/Urbana today, and was up until god-only-knows-what-time last night playing pool and eating at the Waffle House.

Wish you were here.

RIP Dan

Sharon's heart surgery

Sometimes I'm not sure if it's tasteful to put news in the blog, particularly of this nature. However, it's as quick a way as any of circulating the latest, and gives everyone a chance to weigh in together. Therefore...

Sharon (our aunt) is in the hospital to have emergency heart surgery. I only spoke to Koala for a minute or two, so I don't know the nature of the problem. However, I do know that she has a blood disorder that is akin to hemophilia, which is why she hasn't had this surgery before now. The fear was that opening her up for heart surgery could be fatal. It's bad enough now that if she doesn't get it done, the heart problem would do her in.

Koaka has gone up to Plainfield (I'm assuming that's where they're still living) to be with her. I expect that she'll be there for a while, certainly through the Thanksgiving weekend. As a result, Thanksgiving dinner will occur in Norx instead of Pertoalaville. I'm going to pick up Pert on Wednesday, and bring him and all of the stuff that Koala got back to Norx, probably Thursday AM. We're still going to plan the dinner to be Friday, as T3 and T4 won't be in my domain until later on Thursday.

More data as it's available.

Now Is The Time To Submit Your Pie Genre Requests

All orders must be in by Monday, the 22nd. Pecan is a given. Pert's cheescake is also a given. Name it and claim it.

Comment notification redux

I've made yet another attempt to get automatic notification of all blog members when a comment is added to any Non-Sequitur post. Let me know if it works, and if you want it to continue.

1000 Blank Cards, or something

I still think this would be fun. Maybe we can play next weekend! Can everybody take a shot at creating some cards? I'm not particularly keen on adhering to a specific number of cards or anything, I just like the idea of taking turns following a ridiculous, absurd, or totally schizo instruction on a card for some arbitrary point value. It seems like a lot of potential yucks.

And maybe pass the word along to anyone who doesn't read this blog?

The only special request that I would have is, if at all possible, try to make an effort to, ahem, bridge the cultural divide between the adult/nearly adult among us and the youngest of our little gathering. Sometimes being the only person not "in" in the gag can feel like deliberate ostracism, though nothing could be further from the truth. Thanks.

Jesus in your bedroom

Bob Jones' congratulatory letter (linked in the title) to Dubya calls for nothing short of religious warfare.

“It is easy to rejoice today, because Christ has allowed you to be His servant in this nation for another presidential term. Undoubtedly, you will have opportunity to appoint many conservative judges and exercise forceful leadership with the Congress in passing legislation that is defined by biblical norm regarding the family, sexuality, sanctity of life, religious freedom, freedom of speech, and limited government. You have four years--a brief time only--to leave an imprint for righteousness upon this nation that brings with it the blessings of Almighty God.”

"Don't equivocate. Put your agenda on the front burner and let it boil. You owe the liberals nothing. They despise you because they despise your Christ. Honor the Lord, and He will honor you."

Holy shit, huh kids?

"Pull out all the stops and make a difference. If you have weaklings around you who do not share your biblical values, shed yourself of them. Conservative Americans would love to see one president who doesn't care whether he is liked, but cares infinitely that he does right."

One way to deal with it

As Wonkette says, this would be more impressive if it were posted in "Free Republic". Still, it's one way to handle the frustration.

"Straight male seeks Bush supporter for fair, physical fight - m4m

---

Reply to: anon-47785163@craigslist.org Date: Wed Nov 03 19:11:50 2004

I would like to fight a Bush supporter to vent my anger. If you are one, have a fiery streek, please contact me so we can meet and physically fight. I would like to beat the shit out of you."

AP

And this is just one of the two APs that I saw, the other being linked to the title.

There is also this and this.

Most of the papers, including editorial content here has also rolled over, declaring it all the more upsetting because the result is legit this time. I´m writing to them.

Rigged?

Sorry, but I just can´t help myself.

This land is His land...

Off to see the Lizard

We're headed down to Miami this weekend for a little R&R, and a visit with Thing 2. Back on Monday night. Keep the faith.

It is Happening, Again

I hope that I'm wrong, but this day will've been lost long before the voices are "counted". Knowing what we've known, having lived Florida, being aware of the shared interests of the machines that are now in place, and at least having suspected what is to come, we've done little to stop it from happening again. As I write, it is happening again. The pols have just opened in the East.

Reading in the Past

I forgot to ask how Afterdinner's reading went. How did Afterdinner's reading go? I suppose that now that a month has gone by, that I might be able to get a more measured response to that question, and, yeeeeah, that's why I waited until now to ask. Forget about that "I forgot" stuff, and know that I've not asked until now for a good reason.

Security Threats

I´ve gotten messages of identifiable security problems when trying to open some of the blogs lately.

Holiday Plans

This is as good a place as any (seems like I've started one out this way before) to discuss where everyone plans to be for the holidays. I'll get it rolling, and see who screams. All "plans" are subject to change based on the whimsy of any of the many people who really control my destiny.

Thanksgiving:
Thing 1 and Thing 2 get into town Wednesday night. I get the kids midday Thursday, at which time we (EvaDewer, party of six) could come up to the hills if still welcome, for a Friday fiesta. We'd be heading back either Friday night or Saturday AM (there are boyfriends in the mix locally).

So what's the bottom line?

• Wednesday, 11/24 - T1 and T2 get home
• Thursday, 11/25 - Pick up T3/T4 mid day, take the whole famn damily (6) to Pertoalaville
• Friday, 11/26 - Pertoalaville, have Thanksgiving dinner that can't be beat, get arrested for littering, but really talk about the draft.
  
• by Saturday, 11/27 AM - Return to Nor-x

Christmas:
Things 1 and 2 are with their dad officially for Christmas, but I think we'll have them from just after Christmas through New Years. I'll have the kids from about Wednesday, December 22nd through late afternoon Saturday, Christmas day, as well as for some time the following week. Depending on how much time I end up having off (I'm supposed to be off all week, but may end up working the first couple of days), we'd like to try to do a whirlwind North Carolina/North Georgia tour that week (EvaDewer, party of four), in an order yet to be determined.

So what's the bottom line?

• Wednesday, December 22 - (4) Leave for NC or Pertoalaville
• Thursday, December 23 - Spend day there
• Friday, December 24 - Travel from NC to Pertoalaville, or vice-versa
• Saturday afternoon, December 25 - Return to Nor-x

Fixing # 925

After Sat. nite I'm free till Nov. 11. Want me to go down and work on the inside of your place. I'm pretty good at wallpaper.

Barcelona, mid-June to mid-July or end-July?

I'd like to strt getting comments on time frame for the trip next year. My thinking: Kids would be free during that time. You could go ahead and stay at the cabin on w.e of the 4th JUly, or incorporate that freetime into a trip to Barcelona. I will provide living quarters in Barcelona. If you chose the cabin that is okay too. May I have some thoughts on this. Upon getting a consensus I'll make the reservations so you can plan ahead and get passports for those who don't yet have them. Pa plans to go over with me and stay a week or so, but wants an open-ended ticket so he can stay as long as he wants. Like if da dip comes there or we go to Berlin. Ramble on so I know what whould be best for you guys.

Chris' Title

This is supposed to be a heading

this is Paragraph 1.

Do I need to number the paragraphs?

Action Figures

How's the war going? Great!

It all depends on whom you're trying to liberate!!

Wuck Fisconsin

I'm not over it yet, but Craig is doing a good job at talking me off the ledge, by reminding me that my chances at seeing Kyle and the boys on the first day of next year have been enhanced.

I smacked him, of course.

Licking Wounds

While Craig was talking me off of a ledge last night, he reminded me that I'm in a win/win situation with the Boilers, at least if I hope to see them in person this winter. Still, to lose in the manner that they did has me down today, largely because, at this point, they'll be playing down to whatever bowl they get in, rather than up.

Won't someone please hold me?

New pictures on Eva Pictures

As promised, I've posted a couple pictures of the condo damage on the Eva Pictures site, if you care.

PERT (oh lord) UPDATE

He goes to see the neuro-opthomologist a week from this Thurs. due to his focussing problem.

celebrity sightings

Hey, I saw that "Wonkette" girl on the teevee last night. She's cool.

koALa Turns Twenty

Totally clueless, until phoned by her sponsor, koALa has begun the festivities appropriate to this milestone occasion. As all her fellow champions nee victims know, these will entail mass quantities of chocolate or butter pecan and chips and lolling fatly about watching videos and burping. A meeting would be in order; however none of the desired calibre exists nearby.

Time to assess the damage

I'll be away for the next few days (Friday through Monday), checking on the status of the condo, and doing whatever I can to clean it up. I got a call from the insurance company yesterday, whose representative assured me that I'd be contacted in the next couple of weeks by an assessor who would meet me to look at the damage to evaluate what I'll get to fix it.

It'll be interesting. Although I've talked to the property manager about the damage, I really don't know just what to expect. They've pulled the carpet from the living room, so I presume the entire place is in disarray. We'll see.

My 20 year old idea finally comes to fruition

Now if they can just make it a good one, too.

What's the poo on Dizzy?

Did he have his sleep test this week? What's up?

BELATED THANKS TO EVA

I don't think I ever thaanked EVA for setting this site up. I really look forward with pleasure to reading it each day and keeping up-to-date on my loved ones. (And an occasional stranger.) Thanks Eva. And thanks to all the commenters. I've started making a short list on my daily calendar each day listing the number of comments on each blog so I don't have to check them all every time. ie: blog-4-9-0-1-1-0-2-5-3-4-6-5-

Anyone getting popups on this page?

My popup blocker has notified me a couple of times that it blocked something when I went to this page. The sniff test says it's related to the Chatterbox. Anyone else seeing any anomalies? If so, is there any consistency on the content of the popup?

TOO MANY NEW PATHS

I will check the main blog and the kids' personal blogs. If anybody gots anything I should know, put it there. All that stuff on the side is too confusing to me and takes way too much time. Don't you people have jobs? PS: Any news on the condo?

Of goatse and terrorists

Will this link get me banned? Will the FCC fine Time-Warner?

How to get your posted link to open in a new window

It's pretty simple. When you're in the "compose" page, finish putting in your link. Once it's in, switch to the "Edit HTML" page, and insert [target="_blank"], without the brackets between the quotation mark that closes your link name, and before the ">" that follows it.

When you're done, it looks like this:

a href="http://www.davidly.com"target="_blank">OML's Web Page<

but with an "<" (without the extra quotes) at the beginning, and a "/a>" at the end. (It turns out stringing all of that together in an explanation would actually create the link, which wouldn't do us much good here.)

Et voila, popup goodness. Hope that really answers the question that was being asked.

Gock update

Gock wants me to give you all an update on his condition:

He is past post-op at this moment, but still drowsy. The doctors removed the defect in the fascia, and put in a piece of mesh about 2 inches diameter, and sewed up the resultant hole.

He'll be going home today, and be back to work next Monday, and can't lift more than 20 lbs until he's been to the doctor a week or so after he goes home.

Chatbox? What the hell?

OK, it's really just a toy. But if you have something that you want to drop on everyone without creating an entire post, feel free to share it there. Let me know if you have any trouble with it, or can't see it (it's above the member list, over there--------------------->).

The one that I had there yesterday was very hit-or-miss as far as being accessible from multiple places, so I grabbed another one.

Real Answers to Real Questions for Ex-pats in Spain

Good info.

Can this really be so?

I hear this one often, but not in such concrete terms. Enter "HR 163", click search, and it should bring up the two page bill to read.

occupying iraq vs us border control

For the cost of our Iraq occupation we could use the same personpower and patrol our border with Mexico, Canada, Cuba, and stock every airport, train station, bus station, and taxicab with US employed military members. I'm sure they'd be thrilled with the change in duty. With a plan like that people would be lined up to enlist and it would be true service to this country.
ps I thought I was a Yellow Dog Democrat,. but that was BZ.

Thanks to Eva for the clarification. My lament wasn't that I wasn't seeing my posts from *my* display, however, rather that I suspected that others weren't seeing them.

King of Fools: Simply commenting on *my* post or comment only means that you replied after me. It doesn't make you a blog killer.

Land of the Free

Home of the brave, as long as you don't have an opinion. Not that there aren't plenty of these stories to go around, but the image of the multitudes shouting "Four more years!" to drown out a woman whose son was killed in Iraq is more than a little disturbing.

Hurrican/Tropical Storm Check-in

Pretty loud and wet at the house last night, but no damage to speak of. Still need to call about the condo to find out what the status is there; I'll update when I know something. How about Koala?

Better?

what happened to the serendipitydo site? & pa's progress

When I click it I get a not found message. Did OML remove it. Can we assume he is Berlin and alive and well now?
Pa has been to a nephrologist, who consoles him that there is nothing wrong with his kidneys. Next he goes to a sleep lab and will, no dout, start CPAP.

w00t

"Purdue senior Kyle Orton, the college QB whom NFL scouts covet most, has torched Syracuse and Ball State to the tune of nine touchdowns and 616 yards in a pair of convincing routs. Orton's stats, even against two porous opposing defenses, are stellar: He completed his first 15 passes Saturday against the Cardinals, leading the Boilermakers to scores on each of their first eight drives, including five passing TDs and one rushing. Orton racked up 329 passing yards in less than three quarters of work. "

Packing

As I finish up all the last minute details, in hopes that my return will be a smooth one, I'm additionally occupied with other concerns as well: Pa's health, Granny's memory, Aunt Glenna's sanity, KoAla's access to art supplies, Gock's recent development, Kristin's epilepsy, Eva's pooping privacy, Afterdinner's reading, Buddy's tooth, KingofFool's work schedule, the list goes on.

Maybe, just maybe, I'm not completely selfish afterall, and have the capability to care about other people. Things I do know for sure: I am extremely grateful that I have a family that isn't just like the yahoos who call for the extermination of due process and dissent. More importantly, however, your kindness and hospitality (and generousity) made for a comfortable visit, and I'm sure glad I got to see everyone, because I had a blast hangin out wit all a y'all.

Thanks for that, and take care of yourselves!!

Much love,

O h-h-ho Mister Leonard

Well that just tears it...

Jesus, I hate when this happens.

I was all settled in to take a nice, long, post-lunch elimination. I'm not one one of those people who won't sit down in a stall at the office for fear of germs. Hell, it might be the only place at work that I really enjoy. Anyway, I'm all settled in. And by that, I mean that I'm in for the long haul. I'm not carrying a novel or anything, but it was certainly going to be some relaxing "me" time, but not in the perverted way that Gock is thinking.

There are a few things that will "knock me off the throne" in that situation. Some bastard climbing into the adjacent stall and befouling my biosphere with his nasty sadness can do it. What ruins it faster than that is the knock on the door from "housekeeping". Damn it. I had no more than dropped the trousers to my ankles when she showed up. I yell "Occupied!", but there's no way I can relax enough to do the Lord's work after that happens. I'm sure that the cleaning woman is standing out there, tapping her foot and timing me. My afternoon ruined, I wash up, and leave Consuela with a cursory grimace (You know, the kind guys give each other when they pass in the hall instead of smiling because that would be gay?) indicating that the "coast is now clear" for her to finish her rounds.

Why can't I ever have anything nice?

don lorenzo

Found it. The above title is a link. I don't see any indication of it in the format though. This guy is gregarious, loquacious, and, I suspect, full of himself, but I think he'd be a good source of info.

Inquiry About Storm Damage

Is everyone is Atlanta and Miami okay? As in alive and uninjured with homes intact.

I'm so bored with the USA

That's an overstatement to make a point. Nonetheless...

For some time, Afterdinner and I have been trying to decide where to go to ex-pat. It becomes more compelling as the visage of four more years of my short life in a country run by a buffoon becomes more likely, but It's something that's been on our mind for a long time. We have too many responsibilities here to really do it soon, but the kids will eventually all get to college age and beyond, and it will become more feasible. Let's just say I'd like to target departure before Jeb's first term. (Make no mistake, there will be one.)

Anyone have any favorite ideas? It shouldn't surprise you that I'm really only in the market for a warm climate, and English or Spanish would be our first choices for language. It would be nice to be able to find good jobs there, but changing our current lifestyles (career insanity) would be part of the move, too. Among the current candidates being batted about are:

• Barcelona, or elsewhere in Spain
• Belize
• Mexico City
• Caracas
• Buenos Aires

The U.K. is a possibility, but most of Europe north of Spain is too cold for my blood. That probably also rules out Canada. As languages go, Spanish would be the most beneficial second (third, if you really count our French) for us to learn. If we really settled on Barcelona, Catalan is close enough a melange of French and Spanish that knowledge of both would be beneficial. Other factors:

• Do the locals hate Americans? (By that, I mean "all Americans, including me". I suspect that a distaste for the way Americans live and the country operates would be a plus, however.)
• How often do the hurricanes come?
• Can one live inexpensively? Can one live well, if one decides to?
• What is the crime rate like?
  
• What are the rules/laws governing employment?

That other things should be considered?

Hernias

Did Evadoer have elective stomach surgery for a hernia, or has my brain again shat up a faux recollection?
I have a weird squishy just below where the aggrevating pain has long been above my naval.

Sorry To Inform You

Tom Cory was diagnosed with lung cancer last week. There is a "mass" on one lung and two nodules center chest, which is why they don't do surgery, Pat said. The prognosis is 80% that radiation 5 days a week for 6 weeks and chemo to be started tomorrow morning will get rid of it. The frequency of chemo will be decided later. He feels fine, maybe tired. All this is outpatient treatment. Pat called yesterday to tell us. They found it accidentally by making a chest x-ray when he went in for chest pain. An angiogram showed blockage in a blood vessel to the heart. They put in a stent and nothing further was mentioned about the heart.

Reckon I had to

I think that's right.

Compare, contrast, discuss (or disgust)

Truly a reprehensible performance